Clamps are often used during assembly of aircraft components when it is desirable for the components to be precisely positioned prior to performing a subsequent operation on the components. For example, during assembly of an aircraft fuselage, two sections of the fuselage are aligned with respect to each other, and clamped together along with a drilling template. The clamps are configured to generate a clamping force to counteract the drilling force applied by the drill bits, which may force the sections apart if the clamping force is insufficient. Three undersized holes are initially drilled through the pair of sections via the drilling template. The clamps and the template are then removed and a de-burr process is performed on the holes. A pair of alignment pins is inserted into the outermost openings, and the two sections are reassembled. The middle opening is drilled to its nominal size using a track drilling machine.
This process is continued repeatedly for the entire circumference of the sections in a drilling procedure generally known as leap-frogging. Leap-frogging is used because the clamps are only capable of applying the clamping force to a relatively small area. Thus, the clamps are continuously shifted from area to area along the mating surfaces of the sections of fuselage. Shifting the clamps also entails disassembling the sections, performing a de-burr process on the holes, and reassembling the sections. Leap-frogging is therefore expensive in both the number of steps that are performed and the time it takes to perform the steps.
Further, the mating sections of the fuselage are non-planar, which makes it difficult to apply the clamping force to a large area of the fuselage when assembling the sections together. Also, some sections of the fuselage may be irregularly shaped (e.g., not a simple curve), which may require custom clamping systems that are specifically designed for a particular section of the fuselage. Thus, existing clamping systems may be inadequate or inefficient, especially when used to secure irregular or non-planar assemblies together during manufacturing.